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HIM - "In Joy and Sorrow"

HIM is a band that I have adored from the first time I heard their "Razorblade Romance" album when I was in college.  Their lyrics spoke to me in ways that a lot of other artists couldn't at the time.  While my musical tastes have continued to expand and evolve, HIM has remained one of my all-time favorites.


HIM came into the hard rock scene back in the late 90's.  While other bands from their native country, Finland, and the surrounding Scandinavian nations were focusing on the darker, Black Metal themes, Ville Vallo, Mikko Lindström, Mikko Paananen, Juha Tarvonen, and Juippi went in a more gothic direction, focusing their lyrics and music around various definitions of love: love gained, love lost, love hurts, etc.  This is why Ville stated that he considers their music to be "Love Metal," which late became the title of one of their albums.


Of all of HIM's albums, "Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights" has been my favorite.  The album has a theme of a lost or forbidden love that Ville laments about throughout.  Songs like "Salt in our Wounds," Heartache Every Moment," and "Please Don't Let it Go" are heartfelt songs crying out for another chance at love.  One song in particular has always stood out to me as meaningful. "In Joy and Sorrow" is, on the surface, another song about a lost love.  "In joy and sorrow, my home is in your arms.  In world so hollow, it's breaking my heart" is a chorus that says, "I want to be with you in the good and bad times, but being apart is killing me."  


Where I feel the song has a deeper meaning, at least to me, are the verses. "Oh girl, we are the same. We are strong, so blessed, and so brave.  With souls to be saved and faith regained, all our tears wipe away."  To me, this verse says that love can carry us through anything.  It can pick us up from the hard times and encourage us to continue in the relationship.  Just being with each other can wipe away all sadness.


Beyond the lyrics, it is Ville's passion that echo's through each word that touches my heart.  Ville has a way of vocalizing his lyrics that make you feel exactly what he feels.  Whether it is hurt or joy, Ville clearly communicates his feelings with the world.  There have been a lot of troubled relationships and various demons in Ville's life and he uses his music as his outlet.  In more recent times, Ville hit rock bottom with his struggle with alcohol and has since become sober.  His new outlook on life led to their most recent album "Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice" which reflects Ville's life in many ways.


To check out the video for the song, please click the title above.

"Haute Tension" by Alexandre Aja

"Haute Tension" AKA "High Tension" in the US and "Switchblade Romance" in the UK is the horror film that opened my eyes to the foreign horror market.  I rented this film after seeing the trailer from some random DVD I don't remember (that is not important though).  I was drawn in by what seemed to be a pretty straight forward "slasher" film which I am a huge fan of.  There is something about the "Jason's" or the "Freddy's" or the "Michael's" that I always enjoyed watching, even though most of them were very cheesy.  I went into "Haute Tension" with the same ideas...fun, campy slasher film that I could easily forget.  I also didn't know what to think of its origin.  This is a French film...no, that isn't a typo.  I really said it is a French film.  I guess I had a preconceived notion that the only art that came out of France was romantic in nature.  I thought that this was France's attempt to step into create their own slasher villain that would be as campy as the rest.  I knew that the French invented the horror film back in 1896 with a 2 minute film called "Le Manoir du Diable (The House of the Devil)."  This was an attempt that came off as more amusing than scary to the general public, but it did introduce the first filmed depiction of Satan.  I thought "Haute Tension" would go down those same roads...an, was I wrong.  This film has helped usher in a new era of extreme French horror which has spawned some of the most intense and disturbing horror films ever made.

"Haute Tension" focuses on two college friends, 

Marie (Cécile de France) and Alex (Maïwenn Le Besco).  Both are staying at Alex's family's house on either a weekend or a break from college.  It doesn't take long after introducing Marie, Alex, and Alex's family that the shit hits the fan.  

After everyone goes to bed, a random man comes to their door and rings the door bell.  What follows is a whirring mess of senseless killings and gore made my jaw drop.  This film was completely raw and uncensored in ways that make most American films seem like they were neutered (which most are/were).  Alex's entire family is killed and Alex is taken hostage by the killer.  Marie hides from the guy before he can find her.  Once the killer leaves, Marie goes on a mission to rescue her kidnapped friend.

That is about as much of a synopsis as I can give you without completely ruining this movie.  There are twists and turns throughout that left me stunned and dumbfounded when they were revealed.  I honestly never saw them coming.

The fact that this movie took me completely off guard is reason enough for me to write about it.  I enjoy films that lead me towards one conclusion and spin me in the opposite direction.  I consider myself a pretty big film buff and I have seen and more movies than I can remember.  In a lot of circumstances, directors regurgitate ideas and borrow elements from films that were their favorites or inspirations.  While Alexandre Aja does borrow a lot of elements from the traditional slasher film model, he added his own unique storytelling style that keeps the watcher enthralled throughout.  Aja also set a new standard for which all other slashers should compare themselves to.  While campy, predictable horror is nice for a large audience, the true horror fan is on the constant lookout for the next best thing...something to stop them in their tracks and make them ask, "What did I just see?"

With all of that praise, you might be asking, "are there any flaws?"  I would be lying if I said there weren't.  This is a foreign film which normally forces the viewer to choose between a dubbed soundtrack or the original with subtitles.  Personally, I am a purist.  I want to see the film with the original actors' voices talking to me.  I don't mind reading subtitles.  However, I tried setting it up in that fashion, but what I got was a mish-mash of dubbed and subtitled.  It was mostly dubbed but periodically switched back over to French with subtitles.  Maybe I messed up or perhaps I watched it on a messed up DVD player, but regardless, I couldn't fix it and it got distraction at times.

There are also some plot holes that when the twists are revealed, they contradict what what just seen.  However, in all honesty, they are minor compared to the many great elements of this film.

While "Haute Tension" helped create the new wave of French horror, it also helped prepare horror fans for American horror hits, like "Saw" and "Hostel."  This is a film that chewed me up and spit me out only for me to come back asking for more.  I am a hard person to impress when it comes to horror and this film shocked me like no other.

If you would like to see the trailer, please click on the title to be directed to YouTube.  You can also watch the film for free, for a limited time, at Fearnet.com 

http://www.fearnet.com/movies/b14405_high_tension_directors_cut.html

Alice in Chains - "Down in a Hole"

Now before anyone asks...no, I am not depressed.  While this song has lyrics that are filled with self loathing and sadness, I don't have to feel depressed to enjoy this amazing song.

With that said, on to the review!

The early 90's is well known for the Grunge era of rock.  Poster boys, Nirvana took a more punk influenced direction with their music and became the name synonymous with Generation X.  Alice in Chains, however, decided to take a slightly different approach.  Fusing a grinding, sludge-like metal sensibility, acoustical artistry, and deeply introspective lyrics, Alice in Chains gave the metal world some incredible music to identify with.  The name of the band is even a testament to what this band was all about.  Alice, the one we all know from Louis Carol's, "Alice in Wonderland," is caught somewhere.  Is she home?  Is she in Wonderland?  No one knows.  However, she is wrapped in chains, forced to spend her time only looking through the looking glass instead to going through it.  What she sees is either the glimpse of another world or a depressing reflection of her own life in bondage.  Layne Staley captured these themes well in every word he sang.  The Layne Staley era of Alice in Chains is an intense look at a man who was troubled and tormented  by his life.  Staley ultimately ended his owl life in 2002 at the age of 35 from a drug overdose.

"Down in a Hole," along with most of the songs on the "Dirt" album, gives me a greater insight to a man who was crying out to the world about his pain and suffering.  Layne feels trapped, not sure of how to save himself from his own personal hell.  From some of the opening lyrics, it seems as if he has tried many times to lift himself out of the hole he fell into, but has fallen short and is wanting to give up.  "Down in a hole and I don't know if I can be saved.  See my heart, I decorate it like a grave.  You don't understand who they thought I was supposed to be.  Look at me now, a man who won't let himself be."


Layne may have been the frontman of Alice In Chains, but it was band member and co-founder Jerry Cantrell who created the signature sound that is still unmistakable.  Jerry created a subtle marriage of acoustic and electric guitars in "Down in a Hole" that is a perfect fit for the tone of the lyrics.  This is a heavy song and Jerry gave it a soft quality to let the listener understand the impact of the words sung.

Today the band forges on without Layne.  Their new album "Black Gives Way to Blue" with new frontman William DuVall is in many ways, a tribute to Layne and to the sound that gave a generation of rock fans a feeling of belonging.

I will be honest, I did not grow up listening to Alice in Chains or any of the Grunge-era bands.  I didn't discover them until my college career was well underway.  Since that discovery, Alice in Chains remains one of my favorite bands.  While I may not personally identify with the lyrics, I can feel each word as if I had experienced them myself.  It takes an incredible amount of artistry and talent to effect so many people, and Alice in Chains continues to do that today.

Apocalyptica - "Farewell"

Apocalyptica is a metal band comprised of classically trained  cellists made famous by covering Metallica on their debut album "Plays Metallica by Four Cellos."  Their success with this album lead to recording original works, both completely instrumental and with guest vocalists from rock and metal bands from around the world.


"Farewell" is a song that, from the first time I heard it, gave me chills and brought me to tears.  It is a melancholy song that conveys deep love and sadness throughout.  From the opening bars, you get a sense that this is a song written in memory of a lost loved one.  Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, and Perttu Kivilaakso open the song with a quiet elegance that leaves the listener with a clear understanding that this is a song of lament.  The dark and ominous notes haunt you as it gradually builds into what could be considered its chorus.  The deep, dark notes are perfectly married to the higher lead melody.  From there, rock drums are added to bring another element to the already intense piece.  Mikko Sirén's simple, yet powerful drumming  gives "Farewell" the feeling of an intense, modern metal ballad.  The songs crescendo builds to a tear inducing climax with the melody screaming its love for the one it lost.  This grandeur slowly fades to silence, leaving the listener paralyzed with feelings of intense sorrow.


No amount of words can every fully describe how much this song has pierced the essence of my soul.  I just hope that if you give this a listen that it can touch your heart as it did mine.  


Click the title for a link to the song on YouTube.

Introduction

Little has had such an impact in my life as music and film. These mediums have provided me with a window to the souls of those creating it as well as discovering my own. There have been artists, songs, directors, and films that have stripped me down the core of my being and forced me to experience pure emotion in ways I never thought possible. I believe that one has not lived until they have felt the essences of joy, love, anger, hate, fear, and sadness. That list is an oversimplification of the range of emotions I have felt in my lifetime, but regardless, I feel that I can experience life to its fullest just by pressing a play button.

I want whoever reads this to learn about the specific works of art that have shaped my life in some fashion. They may be songs that have inspired me to be a better person, or a film that has pulled the rug right out from under me, but these works of pure genius are a window into what has made me who I am and will continue to impact my future.